Mass dependence of onset of multifragmentation in low energy heavy-ion collisions

TL;DR

This study uses quantum molecular dynamics to analyze how the energy and mass of colliding ions influence the production of nuclear fragments, revealing a linear mass dependence in the onset of multifragmentation.

Contribution

It demonstrates a linear mass dependence of the energy at which maximal fragment production occurs, supported by simulations and consistent with recent experimental observations.

Findings

Linear mass dependence of peak center-of-mass energy for IMF production

Prediction of similar linear behavior for fragment multiplicities

Call for experiments to verify the predicted behavior

Abstract

Based on the quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) picture, we calculate the energy and mass dependence of fragment production. For the present study, we simulated the reactions of $^{20}Ne+^{20}Ne$, $^{40}Ar+^{45}Sc$, $^{58}Ni+^{58}Ni$, $^{86}Kr+^{93}Nb$,$^{129}Xe+^{124}Sn$ and $^{197}Au+^{197}Au$ at central geometry. Our findings clearly show a linear mass dependence for the peak center-of-mass energy at which the maximal IMF production occurs. Such linear dependence for peak center-of-mass energy on the system size has also been observed in recent experimental studies. We also predict a similar behavior for the multiplicities of different kinds of fragments. Experiments are called for to verify this prediction.